“There are many that feel that this is a way for him to get out of the obligation he made publicly prior to the game. I just think it’s interesting that there was so much trash talking before the game. Now there are a lot of excuses.”
— Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in The Sun[4]

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHERESeeking Salazar Foes of natural-gas drilling in Thompson Divide would like to see Interior Secretary Ken Salazar take the same action when he leaves office in March that he took when he started the job four years ago. Salazar, a former U.S. senator from Colorado and native of the San Luis Valley, canceled oil and gas leases on 77 parcels of federal land in Utah in February 2009. He said drilling posed too much of a threat to spectacular landscapes in areas such as Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. Glenwood P-I[5]

Salazar’s “secret shame” Conservatives have their own reasons for disliking Salazar’s tenure at Interior. To them, he didn’t move quickly enough to open up public lands to oil exploration. To them, our high gas prices are his fault and not the fault of the oil companies who set prices. To me, Salazar’s failures have been most pronounced in his oversight of the Bureau of Land Management as it has overseen the fate of the nation’s wild horses. They are supposed to be protected and managed under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, a 1971 federal law which gave to the Interior Department vast discretion to do right by the horses. National Journal[6]

Chicken killing Before filing for bankruptcy, Grant Family Farms owner Andy Grant said he was forced to kill 12,000 chickens that he could not afford to feed. Localization Partners — an organization that loaned the large Northern Colorado organic farm $1.5 million in 2012 and later assumed control of its finances — withheld funds from egg sales for feed, Grant said. He said he did the most humane thing possible, reducing the flock before its members starved. The Coloradoan[7]

Study links drilling, air pollution Emissions from oil and natural gas operations account for more than half of the pollutants — such as propane and butane — that contribute to ozone formation in Erie, according to a new scientific study published this week. Daily Camera[8]

High and dry Planners and engineers in the Colorado River Basin say a parched future could be in store for the region during the next 50 years as they prepare for a seven-state meeting in Las Vegas next week. Senior Colorado River District water resources engineer David Kanzer said Tuesday communities in the basin are living beyond their means. He says it is worse for river communities downstream. Durango Herald[9]

Affidavit sheds new ligh on hyperthermia case Heather Jensen was having sex with a man—with whom she described herself as “having an affair”—while a witness in the case said she smoked marijuana on the night her children overheated inside her Toyota 4Runner on Grand Mesa, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Daily Sentinel[10]

Green light for red-light bill? A Republican lawmaker has once again introduced a bill to ban red-light cameras and automated cameras that enforce speeding violations in Colorado. But unlike last year’s bill, which died in the Democratic-controlled Senate, this year’s measure is supported by Democratic leaders in the Senate and House. Associated Press[11]

Calling out new rule on high-cost areas A draft state rule that would limit subsidies to providers of basic telephone service in rural areas is meeting opposition from some business groups and public officials in Garfield County. Glenwood P-I[13]

TODAY’S POT SHOTSNot harmless Pot is not legal—at least not yet. But it’s not exactly illegal either—not anymore. More than a dozen states have decriminalized the possession of marijuana. Nearly a score of them sanction its medical use. Voters in Washington and Colorado have made recreational use of the drug legal in their states. One way or another, all of these changes mean that there will be more marijuana in homes for young people to find and use. Granny may be smoking it for glaucoma, but there is nothing benign about the effects of pot on a juvenile brain. Whatever its legal status, pot is not harmless. WSJ Op-Ed[14]

Fruita pot-club moratorium The Fruita City Council has voted to impose an immediate moratorium on private marijuana clubs. Read[15]